


risk and reward

by dotpyenji



Category: Dragalia Lost (Video Game)
Genre: Kissing, Love Confessions, M/M, Suggestive Themes, rarepair time babey
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-23
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21532210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dotpyenji/pseuds/dotpyenji
Summary: Norwin gets an unexpected visitor.
Relationships: Norwin/Orion (Dragalia Lost)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	risk and reward

Norwin, sitting at his desk, heard the door to his room swing open behind him, followed by the patter of footsteps. Boots, from the sound of it.

“Orion?” he called out, without looking.

The footsteps halted.

“Huh,” replied the familiar voice of the bodyguard, slightly shocked, but with a hint of awe. “How’d you know it was me? You didn’t even turn around.”

“I just do,” Norwin said.

In truth, he knew who it was because Orion never knocked before entering. He used to, the first few times they hung out, but nowadays he didn’t. He simply burst in unannounced, carrying a smirk and a tale or two of his recent romantic exploits.

It was his own way of saying they were close enough to skip formalities, Norwin supposed; though not as close as Norwin sometimes, selfishly, wished for.

“Well, color me impressed!” The footsteps resumed, getting slightly louder with each tap on the wooden floor. “So, how goes it, Norwin?”

Norwin looked back; Orion, now standing right behind him, sported a lopsided grin, and he couldn’t help but smile, ever so faintly, in response. “I’m all right. Just caught up in a book.” He snapped said book, which had been partly open in his right hand, shut. “And you? What brings you here?”

“I’m glad you asked!” Orion said, grin widening, and Norwin noticed the bodyguard had his hands behind his back—hiding something?

As if reading Norwin’s mind, Orion brought out his hands, revealing a hefty, but delicately arranged, array of bright crimson blooms.

“…Roses.” Not even a question, but an unimpressed, matter-of-fact statement. Norwin set the book on the table and laced his fingers together.

Orion pouted. “What’s with that sullen look?”

Norwin knew what was up. Orion often stopped by his room for a pre-date fix; in a fancy suit and flowers in hand, he’d ask Norwin for eloquent pick-up lines or restaurant recommendations.

It would always be with someone new; though the words Orion used to describe each potential partner were all the same. Destiny this, love-at-first-sight that. Orion was terribly impulsive when it came to romance, and Norwin, who had made up countless expressions of love for the bodyguard to use, knew this all too well.

Sometimes he wondered what would happen if he used the words he had crafted for Orion’s dates on Orion himself.

Too big a risk, he supposed. The burning wreckage of Annasonne held enough trauma for a lifetime.

“I suppose you’re about to ask someone on a date, then?” Norwin sighed, leaning back in his chair.

“You could say that,” Orion replied, followed by a coy wink.

“Who’s the unlucky person you’ve set eyes on?”

“Who indeed?” Orion’s voice had turned teasing, and Norwin took notice.

Orion was usually quick to name and describe his dates. This woman must be incredibly special.

Royalty? No, Orion had dated plenty of nobles with no exceptional treatment.

Was it someone Norwin knew personally, then? The only female he talked with as often as Orion was Fleur; and she was far, far too young. She grew faint just from reading a tale about a princess kissing a prince-turned-frog, for Ilia’s sake.

“What sort of plot twist are you trying to pull?” Norwin found himself asking. “It’s out of character for you not to name the object of your affections straightaway.”

“Heh.”

“Do I know them?”

“Yes; you know them _very_ well, if I may add.” Orion then threw the bouquet into Norwin’s lap, and it landed with a soft _flump_.

Norwin flinched, as if he’d been slapped. “Please don’t tell me you’re dating Fleur.”

“Wha—No, no, of course not! I’m not _that_ kind of person.” Orion, seemingly shocked, waved a hand dismissively. “I only date adults.”

Norwin exhaled in relief; but his mind then turned to more pressing matters. “So, who is this…Ah!”

He’d heard, from the fringes of gossips in the Halidom, rumors that Orion and the Prince were an item, but he had believed it to be fiction. Orion guarded the Prince; that much he knew, but he thought it was platonic. The two had also been together on Valentine’s Day on a sort-of date, though Norwin thought no permanent feelings had come out of it. He had assumed it was just baseless conjecture, much like all the negative rumors surrounding the Prince.

And yet, who else would Orion act this way about? He wouldn’t be this way about just any woman. Surely, it was the Prince whom Orion was dating.

An indescribable ache gripped his chest, and Norwin shuddered.

No; he had long ago resolved to put these feelings away. He steadied himself, averting his eyes from the bouquet in his lap that was not meant to be his.

Orion raised an eyebrow. “Figured it out?”

Norwin nodded slowly and forced a smile. “Yes, I think I have.”

“Great! No further explanation is needed, then…?”

A few seconds of silence passed. Orion stared at Norwin as if waiting for him to say something. Norwin, unfortunately, did not know what to say. Congratulations? Love life advice? Or something more…intimate, longing, of feelings unrequited?

_Please stay. I…_

Norwin was an author; he specialized in words. And yet, the phrases that constituted his livelihood jumbled in his head, creating sweet but sticky messes of unspeakable things.

He was not sure when these feelings he tried so hard to damp down had surfaced. When he had first met Orion, they were no more than acquaintances, merely drawn to each other from their shared experiences of being sylvans raised in human settings. Yet the more they spoke, and with every risky move he watched Orion make, the more Orion’s presence lingered in Norwin’s memory, even when the bodyguard was not there.

Romance held risks, Orion often said, but Norwin was most definitely not Orion, unfettered by bad memories. All Orion wished for was a life without regrets; Norwin had too many to count.

Perhaps that was what drew him so: Orion was the risk to his regret, the _why not_ to his _why bother_ , the impulse to his caution. A brave, if philandering, prince to his quiet, pensive princess trapped in a tower of trauma.

Norwin craved nothing but happy endings; and yet he knew firsthand that reality was rarely so merciful. It did not care for Annasonne; why would it be kind to him now?

Orion’s gaze had turned piercing, burning through Norwin’s head. He had to say something. The silence would damn him.

Norwin breathed in, slowly. A mere congratulatory word would suffice.

Before he could open his mouth, Orion put a hand on his shoulder, causing him to nearly start from his chair.

“So…want to go for a cup of tea, or…?”

Norwin blinked, confused, upon hearing Orion’s words. “What?”

“What do you mean, _what?”_ Now it was Orion who looked disoriented. His fingers squeezed Norwin’s shoulder. “You didn’t understand my confession, then?”

“Con…fession? Aren’t you dating the Prince?”

Orion’s eyes widened, before breaking into a laugh. “The _Prince?!_ Where in the blazes did you get that idea?”

“But—the way you were—who are you confessing to?” If it wasn’t the Prince, and it wasn’t Fleur, then who?

A chuckle, followed by a sigh. “I literally gave you the bouquet. Who else could it be for?”

“Ah—“ Norwin threw a quick glance to the blossoms on his lap, before looking back at Orion, an eyebrow raised. Did this mean—no, it couldn’t be.

“My bad,” Orion said. “I should have been more direct.”

Orion snatched the bouquet from Norwin’s lap, and then knelt, presenting the bouquet like a squire giving a sacred sword to the hero of a fairy-tale prior to a grand journey.

“I love you,” he said, unwavering.

Norwin sat, stock-still, Orion’s confession not fully registering.

_I love you._

Surely this was a prank. Perhaps Orion had caught him blushing once, or seen him smile for too long a second. That was it; Orion knew of Norwin’s feelings, and was now cruelly mocking him. If Norwin were to take the bait and reach for the bouquet, Orion would pull it away.

But Orion was not that bad of a person. A womanizer, for certain, but he was not so mean. Or so Norwin could only hope. Alas, was reality that kind?

“You’re…kidding, right?” was all he could say, after seconds of silence that felt like centuries.

Orion looked up and frowned. “Oh, Norwin, you wound me. Do I not look sincere?”

Norwin said nothing; rather, he did not know what to say. Orion’s eyes glittered with a fierce intensity, and on anybody else it was enough proof of seriousness. On Orion, though, it was another story. Norwin could only hope that Orion meant what he said; then again, had he not hoped for Annasonne to be saved?

“Why me?” Norwin finally managed, in a hushed voice full of awe and hurt and wonder.

Orion tilted his head, mouth pursed, as if thinking.

What would come out of his mouth? Norwin had heard his speeches on destiny and soulmates enough times to make a thousand-page essay compilation. If Orion were to tell him such things, then he’d know there was no substance to Orion’s confession; it would mean that Orion confessed on impulse, and would discard him as soon as the winds of fate blew in a different direction.

“Well,” Orion said, his gaze turning dreamy, “you ARE incredibly pretty…”

“…So it’s superficial.”

Orion’s face fell. “Blast! It seems like that wasn’t the right thing to say.”

Was that not obvious?

Norwin shook his head. “Look, Orion, I don’t know why you’re doing this, but—“

Orion took Norwin’s hands in his, pressing the bouquet into them, soft petals gently caressing Norwin’s skin. There were thorns hidden in them, were there not? And yet, Norwin couldn’t help but hope that it was possible to hold such roses without being pricked.

“It’s not superficial, I assure you.” Orion nodded. “When I realized it myself, I could scarcely believe it. But…” He smiled warmly. “As for the reason I love you? I don’t think I need a reason; I just do. You cut a gallant figure in battle; you are skilled in both the arts and writing; our shared backgrounds allow us to talk freely about many things; and you are _adorable_ when you blush. Is that not good enough? Believe me: nothing would make me happier than the opportunity to protect you.”

“Surely you jest,” Norwin replied; Orion’s words had only strengthened his convictions. “I’m hardly worth protecting. You’ll only be unhappy.” He gestured to the books on the shelves in his room, looming over him. “The books I’ve written are proof of that; all I can do is end things miserably. If you’re only confessing on impulse, I suggest you take this bouquet and look for another person to flirt with.”

Orion paused, looking at the shelves. “’ _I didn’t fall in love; I went in willingly, as if it was home.’”_

“…Pardon?”

“Wasn’t that from one of your latest books?”

Orion tipped a book off the shelf.

“I think it was this one…The princess, who is cursed to turned into a hideous creature every night, tries to tell the prince who has confessed to her that he is surely making a mistake, that it is impossible for his feelings to be true. But the prince, unfazed, says that he is sure. His love is unmistaken; he didn’t fall into it, like a fiend into a trap. Rather…”

Orion had opened the book, and Norwin’s eyes trailed him as he flipped its pages, tracing his fingers on each line.

_“’I accept the risks; I take all the misfortune that may befall me with a smile, because I am in love with you. Not regardless of your flaws, not despite of your flaws. I accept every part of you, and on my own volition, not because of some passing flight of fancy or a misheld notion of love at first sight.’”_

The bodyguard sighed wistfully. “Sure, the prince died in the end, but he was happy. I think this is one of my favorite works of yours. I mean, I believe in love at first sight, but with you it was...different.”

Norwin simply stared, stunned, lips slightly parted in surprise. He had forgotten he had written that book; it wasn’t actually his latest, but one from right after the Annasonne tragedy.

Orion shrugged. “Something akin to the story in that book. Sure, you have issues, but don’t we all? And what kind of boring individual would you be without them?”

“Orion…” What was he to say to that? It was too elaborate to be a joke; and yet the possibility that it was still existed, preventing Norwin from giving a coherent reply.

Getting up, Orion shot Norwin a small smile. “Even if you do not feel the same way, I am happy nonetheless.”

“Huh?”

“What matters is that I was able to honestly convey my feelings. It is a shame it took me so long to realize them—but then again, I suppose the path to love isn’t always a short one!” He beamed confidently. “I pray you may also live your life with similar self-honesty.”

Even with all the risks, Orion had taken his shot, as not to lie to himself or others. Whether it was out of self-satisfaction or the desire to have no regrets, Norwin did not know.

And…self-honesty, huh?

Norwin found himself stifling a chuckle. Was it a chuckle? He covered his mouth with one hand.

“Eh? Ah, Norwin?” Orion suddenly looked concerned. “I…didn’t make you uncomfortable, did I? It’s…fine. This was part of the risk. I guess I’ll be going now—A-are you crying?”

He was. Norwin was shaking, small tears making their way into his eyes. “I-I’m fine, Orion, just—“

“Oh, ugh, I didn’t—Ilia, I’m so sorry—You hate it that much?!” Orion’s eyes turned downcast. “It’s…all right. I’ll be going now, then. I’m truly sorry.”

He turned around to leave, ears drooped.

“Ah—“ Norwin called out. “Orion!”

Orion whirled his head around. “Y-yes?”

“I…” This wasn’t a fairy tale; there was no quill in Norwin’s hand and no morally righteous prince who could do no wrong. But, as Orion had said, where was the fun in a flawless world?

Norwin tossed the bouquet onto his desk, stood up, stepped towards Orion, and hugged him from behind, his hands clasping in front of Orion’s waist. He pressed his face onto the back of Orion’s neck, and felt Orion tense up under his touch.

“Norwin?!”

“Heh.” One tear had fallen down Norwin’s slowly reddening cheek, but that was all. “Didn’t you say you wished for me to live my life with more self-honesty? This is me being honest.”

_Please don’t be a prank._

Orion was silent, but for a mere moment, before Norwin heard him exhale in relief. “Ah, fortune smiles upon me today! Those WERE tears of joy on your face, right?”

Norwin licked the tear off his face—salty, but in a good way. “What do you think?”

“Ha, I suppose I shouldn’t have bothered asking. Get off for a second, will you?”

The author released his hold on Orion, and as soon as he did, Orion spun around and leaned forward, lightly kissing his forehead, ever so gently.

Orion pulled back to observe Norwin. The bodyguard smirked.

Norwin’s face burned hot; still, he was delighted. “That was chaste, coming from you.”

“We can take it slow—Mmph!“

Their lips met; Norwin had grabbed Orion’s collar and yanked them together. Norwin kissed him hungrily, with the ferocity of a caged animal finally set free. His heart raced, and he felt Orion’s beat rapidly as well, as they pressed into each other with increasing intensity.

It was as if there was nothing else in the world; no looming bookshelves of sad tales and no bouquet of roses on the desk. Just two tongues intertwined, and two people infatuated. Norwin’s mouth, insistent but shaky, melted into Orion’s, smooth and slippery, intoxicating.

When Norwin finally broke away, he realized that he was on the floor, lying on his back, with Orion on top of him, panting.

“That was…bold,” Orion huffed, a what-am-I-going-to-do-with-you look on his face.

“Mm,” was all Norwin could muster, his head still spinning. It was as if all his blood had rushed to his head…and another certain part of his body.

Orion smirked. “I guess this means I can take you out to dinner tonight, then? Perhaps have an encore of the lovely performance we just had?” He licked his lips. “With a VERY special after-show party, if you’re interested.”

“Who’s the bold one now?” Norwin sighed, rolling his eyes. Still, his face was aglow with newfound warmth. “But, sure, I accept.”

Orion chuckled, softly but heartfelt.

As Orion helped Norwin up, a familiar string of words floated into Norwin’s mind, and he smiled.

This was no happy ending—not yet, at least. But every story had to start somewhere; they had only just begun.

_Once upon a time…_

**Author's Note:**

> there's a quote by kiersten white that goes 'i didn't fall in love with you. i walked into love with you, with my eyes wide open, choosing to take every step along the way' and i just. love it. kind of based the quote in the story off that because it hits well. sometimes it's not a sudden falling, but a gradual step into the abyss
> 
> but anyway dfdjkfdhfhhdgjdg norwin/orion is one of my favorite rarepairs and i can never explain why...it's like *picture of marge simpson holding a potato* i just think they're neat
> 
> ...so yeah...i hope this turned out well...


End file.
